Aurora lists unused facility for sale
Poll
Would you support the Conservative Party of Canada’s carbon tax plan of consumer pricing with ‘green’ savings account?
Yes
Aurora Cannabis is seeking proposals to sell, lease or partner on the partially completed $200-million greenhouse and processing facility in northwest Medicine Hat. News Photo Collin Gallant
Aurora Cannabis is accepting offers for part or all of its partially complete Aurora Sun Complex in Medicine Hat.
Work to licence the massive greenhouse in the city’s northwest was halted last year as the company reined in capital spending, scaled back its production plans and closed its smaller greenhouses.
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City Notebook: With a sale off the table, a power plant review still smart
Poll
Yes
This week Hatters heard a sales option for the power plant was off the table in a review of the viability of the last remaining municipal power company in Alberta.
The thought had raised the ire of some residents who, it seems, remembered they are shareholders of the company.
Such a review however, is sorely needed when utility companies the world over are contemplating how to operate in a decarbonized future.
Aside from an arguably booted rollout of the process by administrators and elected officials to the public, it’s the conscientious thing to do.
City scrubs power sale option
Poll
Yes
A sale will not be considered as part of a current review of the City of Medicine Hat’s power plant, according to a statement from Mayor Ted Clugston and senior officials on Monday afternoon.
Last month the utility department announced it was conducting a strategic review to determine the potential effect of growing renewable supply on its export sales of gas-fired power.
However, the inclusion of a potential sale of the municipally owned power plant or partnership between a new private sector owner and the city-retained distribution company became a lightning rod of controversy.
City utility and elected officials say they hope to form a better relationship with ratepayers alongside a choice to halt major decisions on the power plant until after the fall election.
One vocal opponent of a sale says the future of the utility will almost certainly become a ballot box issue.
“I don’t think candidates will have the luxury of sitting by and not having an opinion,” said Alison Van Dyke, who arranged an online petition calling on the city to maintain public ownership of the 110-year-old power company.
Hatters next go to the municipal polls in October, and Mayor Ted Clugston was quoted in a release Monday stating schedule as the main reason behind narrowing a current review to exclude potential privatization until then.